The guide explains how the new system will work after the vote on 5 December for the island's first chief minister.

The council of ministers will be chosen three days later and will then begin their work.

According to the last census there are more than 5,000 people with Portuguese or Madeiran backgrounds or ancestry living in the island.

The guides will be available at all parish halls, the public library at the States website and from the Portuguese and Polish Consuls.